Interview for April 2009 Artist of the Month.  Questions by Larry Killam. ~ Who is Stacy Grubb ? Like anyone else, I'm an evolving person who has been infinitely blessed. I'm a child of God, a mommy to Elijah, a wife to Jason, a daughter to Alan and Wilma Johnston, a sister to Becki, Jessi, and Isaiah, an aunt to many, a singer of songs, and for it all, a giver of thanks. Who or what inspires your songs? It depends on the song. Other songs often inspire me; my life; my emotions; stories I concoct out of boredom. What I hope to achieve through writing is to create something that is a release for me and maybe inspires someone else. So, I guess the desire to do that is a big inspiration. How and when did you get started writing ? I remember singing songs as a really young girl that I would make up as I went along. I also wrote short stories when I was young and, at around age 12, I started writing poetry. I think I was about that age when I wrote my first song. Because my dad is a songwriter, it just seemed like a normal thing to try. I was also becoming a major fan of Mariah Carey at the time and loved that she wrote all of her own songs. And of course, Dolly Parton is legendary for her songwriting and she has been an inspiration to me since I was a toddler. How and when did you get started performing music? I've really been performing for others for as long as I can remember. My dad used to have a big piano that he would set my sister and me atop and he'd play while we sang. I enjoyed singing in church. It has only been during the last five years that I've performed extensively as a singer for my dad's bluegrass (ish) group, South 52. Who are some of your influences or musical 'heroes'? I've got a lot. My dad tops the list. Dolly Parton would be a not-too-distant second. And while not so much, anymore, Mariah Carey was a major influence when I was a teenager really trying to develop my technique and range, as well as my writing. Alison Krauss, Ron Block, Waylon Jennings, Goose Creek Symphony, Julie Lee...there are so many. What inspirations do you draw from in your writing & performing? Sounds, sights, feelings, passions, life, love, faith. I try to take it all in. What are you currently working on? I just recorded a CD in Nashville and was blessed enough to have absolutely top notch musicians, singers, and writers join me on the project. It will be available in a couple of weeks. I wrote 9 of the 12 (all original) tunes. I'm hoping to put a band together and hit the road. I'm also writing with a second CD in mind. I can't say enough how blessed I am to have some wonderful veterans of the music world taking me in and helping me learn and grow. With lots of help, I'm working on improving my writing, my singing, and my guitar playing. If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be? That's tough for me to say. For myself and what I've been doing, I couldn't be happier with the way God has blessed me within the industry. It isn't often that an unheard of artist can list many of their musical role models in the liner note credits of their debut CD. My approach has been highly unorthodox and I probably have different goals than most. All I know is that I have a project soon in hand that I couldn't be more proud of. If I could change anything, I guess, it would just be that every artist could be as satisfied with the music they're making as I am. What would you say is the most important lesson you've learned in the music business that new artists should know? For me, at the end of the day, I just want to know that I've ended up with the project I dreamed of when it all got started. I was talking just yesterday with a friend about the impossibility of pleasing everyone, so you may as well be making your music to please yourself. I had no one in mind but myself when I went into the studio. There will be some who think like me and enjoy the music that was made and some who don't and won't. Briefly, what are some of your thoughts on the current state of the music world, and where this industry is heading? I'm saddened by how many artists are wishing to be able to do something different with their music that they're making. They want certain sounds, but are afraid of alienating a few fans if they go in that direction. It's a common complaint that much of what's on Top 40 radio is created from a cookie cutter formula, so everything sounds alike. There are people who enjoy Top 40 and those people deserve to be catered to. I only wish that folks like me - that is, folks who enjoy many things that are off the beaten path - were given a voice, as well. What do you hope this group (Songwriters Unite) will do for you and other members? What's your view on the Internet in general as it relates to today's musicians? I think it's a brand new world musically speaking and that's by in large thanks to the internet. I've reached more people through social networking sites than an artist at my level could've ever hoped for even ten years ago. Because the internet has so many ways of making an unsigned artist and their music so accessible, the world of music as we know it by way of record labels and deals and management is seeing a shift in what an artist is forced to sacrifice just to have their music recorded, heard, and distributed. If you could choose anyone, who would you like to hear performing your songs? It's hard for me to imagine a good fit with anyone. Of course, I'd be overjoyed to hear someone like Dolly or Alison Krauss or Rhonda Vincent doing one of my songs, but I also would have a hard time picking one of my songs that necessarily fits their styles. I get a little off the wall with my writing sometimes. Do you see yourself as a writer for others or a performer of your own Songs? Again, I'd be overjoyed to hear someone else doing my stuff, but I only ever have myself in mind when I'm writing. Why do you write songs? Because God put the desire within me to do so and the ability to share a part of myself with a song. Do you have an all-time favorite song? Heck no. I have a few dozen, though. Do you have a favorite writer and/or performer? My dad, Dolly, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Ron Block, RL Castleman, John Pennell, Julie Lee, Gillian Welch - all songwriters whose abilities I aspire to. In your opinion, what are the essential ingredients of a great song? It just depends on what you're hoping to achieve. For me, it's essential that my song resonate with someone else. It's got to have something in it that makes the listener know I wasn't just goofing around and coming up with rhyming lines. I haven't succeeded if my listener doesn't feel what I was feeling when I was compelled to write.